In addition to these deaths in Afghanistan, another 28 U.S. and one Canadian soldier were killed in other countries while supporting operations in Afghanistan. Also, 62 Spanish soldiers returning from Afghanistan died in Turkey on May 26, 2003, when their plane crashed.

During the first five years of the war, the vast majority of coalition deaths were American, but between 2006 and 2009, a significant proportion were amongst other nations, particularly the United Kingdom and Canada which have been assigned responsibility for the flashpoint provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, respectively. This is because in 2006, ISAF expanded its jurisdiction to the southern regions of Afghanistan which were previously under the direct authority of the U.S. military.

In 2009, there were 7,228 improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Afghanistan, a 120% increase over 2008, and a record for the war.[4][5] Of the 512 foreign soldiers killed in 2009, 448 were killed in action. 280 of those were killed by IED's.[6]

Details regarding the fatalities

American

Of the American deaths, more than 700 have died in hostile action. Included in these numbers are 11 CIA operatives that were killed in Afghanistan: seven in a suicide bomb attack on a military base, two in an ambush, one in a prison uprising in November 2001, and one in an accident.[7] The independent website iCasualties has put the number of U.S. deaths at 1020,[8] it should be noted that reported number is slightly higher than the DoD's tally which is 1010, when including the intelligence operatives.[9]

As of March 3, 2010, 5,130 American soldiers have been wounded in action in Afghanistan, with 2,953 not returning to duty in less than 72 hours.[9]

British

As of March 6, 2010, the British forces have suffered 270 fatalities[10] and 1,062 wounded in action, another 2,247 have suffered from disease or non-battle injuries. Of these, 232 soldiers were killed as a result of hostile action, while 33 are known to have died either as a result of illness, non-combat injuries or accidents, or have not yet officially been assigned a cause of death pending the outcome of an investigation.[11] The vast majority of fatalities have taken place since the redeployment of British forces to the Talibanstronghold of Helmand province in 2006, as only 5 men died between April 2002 and early March 2006.

Canadian

Canada's role in Afghanistan, consisting of operations against the Taliban and other insurgents in southern Afghanistan (Kandahar Province), has resulted in the largest number of fatal casualties for any single Canadian military mission since the Korean War. A total of 139* members of the Canadian Forces have died in Afghanistan between February 2002 and February 12, 2010. Of these, 117 were due to enemy actions, including 84 due to IED's or landmines, 22 due to RPG, small arms or mortar fire, and 11 due to suicide bomb attacks. Another six Canadian soldiers died due to friendly fire while conducting combat operations. An additional 17 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan as a result of accidents or non-combat circumstances; 6 in vehicle accidents, 2 in a helicopter crash, 2 from accidental falls, 2 from accidental gunshots, 2 suicide deaths, and 3 unspecified non-combat-related deaths.[12][13] More than 400 soldiers have been wounded since 2006.[14]

In addition to these troop deaths in Afghanistan, 1 Canadian soldier was found dead of non-combat-related causes at Camp Mirage, a forward logistics base in the United Arab Emirates near Dubai.

Danish

Denmark, a NATO member, has about 700 troops in Afghanistan, mostly stationed in Helmand province as part of NATO's International Assistance and Security Force.

Denmark's first 3 deaths were the result of an accident during the disposal of a Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile in 2002. With a new mandate issued by the Danish parliament in 2006, Danish military operations have transformed from relatively safe non-combat operations in the centre of the country to combat operations alongside the British contingent in the violent southern Helmand province. 25 soldiers have been killed in various hostile engagements or as a result of friendly fire, and 6 have been killed in non-combat related incidents, bringing the number of Danish casualties to 31.[15] This list has two more casualties than the official defence fatality list, because the latter is disregarding non-operational, non-combat casualties (notes below).

Denmark is the country in ISAF that has had the largest number of casualties compared to the country's population. Out of all the countries, Denmark is also the nation which has the largest percentage of its soldiers who have died. It should also be noted though, that Denmark also is among the nations with most troops deployed relative to size.[16]

*: Died from over-exertion during training. Not included in the official defence fatality list.**: Committed suicide. Not included in the official defence fatality list.

Dutch

The first two Dutch fatalities were soldiers killed in an accidental helicopter crash in 2006. Since then, one pilot died in a non-hostile F-16 crash, and one soldier committed suicide at Kamp Holland. In 2007, one soldier was accidentally killed when a Patria armoured vehicle overturned at a river crossing near Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan. After that 15 soldiers were killed in action in the rest of 2007, in 2008 and in 2009. 43 soldiers have been wounded in action.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][27][28][29]

Estonian

Six Estonian soldiers have been killed in action and one died in an accident. More than 23 soldiers have been wounded in action.[30]

French

A total of 40 French soldiers have died thus far.[31] 30 soldiers have been killed in action, of the others: four have died in vehicle accidents, two have drowned, one was killed by a lightning strike, one died from a non-hostile gunshot wound and two died in unexplained circumstances.

The largest number of soldiers killed was when French troops were ambushed in the area of Sirobi, some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul, in August 2008. Ten French troops were killed and a further 21 wounded in the attack - the heaviest loss of troops France has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in 2001.

German

A total of 37 German servicemen and three members of the German GSG 9 special police forces were killed, of which 26 by hostile activities. 147 troops have been wounded in action.

Italian

A total of 22 Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan: 15 killed in action (one died a week after being wounded during a raid to rescue him after being captured), 3 died in vehicle accidents, one due to an accidental weapon discharge, one of illness, one of a heart attack, and a general defense staff officer died in an accidental airplane crash.

Spanish

Of the Spanish deaths, 17 died in August 2005 when the Eurocopter Cougar helicopter they were travelling in crashed, seven were killed in five separate attacks by insurgents, one died of a heart attack, and one died in a vehicle accident. Another 62 died in a Yak-42 plane crash in Turkey on their way back to Spain from Afghanistan.[38]

Turkey

The Turkish Army suffered its first deaths on July 14, 2009, when two soldiers were killed in a road traffic accident in Faryab province, between Mazar-i Sharif and Kabul. One of the two killed was the commander of the Turkish contingent of ISAF troops in Afghanistan.

Out-of-country deaths related to the war

In addition to the 912 American deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, another 28 U.S. soldiers died in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Arabian sea, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, while supporting operations in Afghanistan. Among them are also a Marine and a civilian DoD employee who were killed in action while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.[1][9][39][40][41]

A Canadian soldier was found dead of non-combat-related causes at a forward logistics base in the United Arab Emirates near Dubai.

62 Spanish soldiers died in a Yak-42 plane crash in Turkey on their way back to Spain from Afghanistan.

List of deaths of European soldiers

Note: This list doesn't include British and German soldiers killed since they are listed in separate articles.

September 26, 2006 - An Italian soldier, Alpini Corporal Giorgio Langella, 31, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kabul.

September 30, 2006 - An Italian soldier, Alpini Corporal Vincenzo Cardella, 24, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kabul.

2007

February 21, 2007 - A Spanish soldier, Idoia Rodríguez Buján, was killed by a land mine in Herat province.

April 6, 2007 - A Dutch soldier was accidentally killed when a Patria armoured vehicle overturned at a river crossing near Tarin Kowt, crushing him under the vehicle. Robert Donkers, 33, was from Kerkrade.[11]

April 20, 2007 - A Dutch soldier, Cor Strik, 21, from Tiger Company, a Dutch airborne infantry unit, was killed by a landmine less than two kilometres from Forward Operating Base Robinson in the Sangin River valley.[12]

May 3, 2007 - A Danish soldier, 1st Lieutenant Steen Rønn Sørensen, 24, died of his injuries in Denmark's first combat death in Afghanistan. He had been shot in the neck April 29, when Danish troops were attacked near Camp Bastion in the southern Helmand province. [13][14][15]

May 7, 2007 - A 28-year-old Czech ISAF soldier died in a mudslide that hit his vehicle some 30 kilometres southeast of the seat of the reconstruction team of ISAF multinational forces in Faizabad, north Afghanistan.[16][17]

May 23, 2007 - A Finnish ISAF soldier, Petri Tapio Immonen, 29, was killed in a bomb blast that took place near NATO's ISAF-base located in Maimana. 2 Norwegian soldiers were wounded in the attack.[18][19]

May 26, 2007 - A Spanish ISAF soldier, Juan Antonio Abril Sánchez, 31, died while on patrol when the URO VAMTAC all-terrain vehicle in which he was travelling overturned accidentally in the Qades district of Bagdhis province, around 25 km north of the Spanish provincial construction team base (PRT) in Qala i Naw.[20]

June 15, 2007 - A Dutch ISAF soldier, Timo Smeehuijzen, 20, was killed by a suicide car bombing in Tirin Kot in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan. The car was driven out of a side street and detonated near a Dutch armoured car in a NATO convoy, also killing four Afghan men and five children.[21][22]

June 15, 2007 - A Dutch soldier, Jos Leunissen, 44, was killed and three others wounded in an accident while fighting Taliban soldiers near the town of Chora. The soldier was apparently killed by one of the Dutch mortar grenades that were fired by his own unit but exploded sooner than expected.[23]

June 23, 2007 - Two Estonian soldiers, Kalle Torn, 24, and Jako Karuks, 33, were killed while on a mine clearing mission near Sangin by a 107-mm missile attack that also injured four other soldiers.[24][25]

July 13, 2007 - A Dutch soldier, Tom Krist, 24, died in hospital of the wounds he sustained three days earlier in a suicide bomb attack in Deh Rawod, Uruzgan province on July 10.[26]

July 25, 2007 - A French soldier, Pascal Correia, 40, was killed in a rocket attack on Afghan army quarters southwest of Kabul in the province of Warduk where he was training a unit of the Afghan army.[29]

August 14, 2007 - A Polish, soldier, 2nd lieutenant Łukasz Kurowski, 28, was killed in an exchange of fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of a base in the city of Gardez.[30]

August 23, 2007 - A French soldier, Stéphane Rieu, 30, was killed when his light-armoured vehicle overturned on a road near Shakar Darreh.[31]

September 6, 2007 - A Romanian soldier, Aurel Marcu, 31, was killed and several others injured when their armored transport vehicle hit a roadside bomb while on patrol in the southern province of Zabul.[34][35]

September 20, 2007 - A Dutch soldier, Tim Hoogland, 21, was killed about 5 km north of the town of Deh Rawod in western Uruzgan province when his patrol came under mortar fire.[36][37]

September 21, 2007 - A French soldier, Laurent Pican, 34, was killed in a suicide car bomb attack against a French military convoy in the western part of the capital, Kabul.[38][39]

September 24, 2007 - Two Spanish soldiers, Stanley Mera Vera, 20, and Germán Pérez Burgos, 33, and an interpreter were killed in a roadside bombing in Shewan, Farah province. Six others were injured, two of them seriously.[40]

September 26, 2007 - Two Danish ISAF soldiers, Mikkel Keil Sørensen, 24 and Thorbjørn Ole Reese, 22, were killed and another wounded when their base was attacked for several hours in the Upper Gereshk Valley of Helmand province. An investigation is underway to determine whether they were killed by "friendly fire".[41][42][43]

October 4, 2007 - An Italian military intelligence agent, Lorenzo D'Auria, 33, died of wounds sustained during a September 24 rescue operation by ISAF/Coalition troops in Farah province. On September 22, D'Auria and a compatriot were kidnapped in Herat Province.[44]

November 8, 2007 - Norwegian Home Guard soldier Kristoffer Sørli Jørgensen, 22, was killed and one other soldier, 20, severely wounded when the unarmoured Toyota Landcruiser they were driving was hit by an IED near the Norwegian base at Maymana. Both were from the town of Stange in Norway.[48][49]

November 24, 2007 - An Italian soldier, Daniele Paladini, 35, and six civilians were killed when a bomber who had strapped explosives around his body detonated himself near the troops' convoy in Kabul's western Paghman district. The suicide attack also injured three other Italian soldiers and nine civilians.[50]

November 24, 2007 - A Portuguese soldier, Sergio Pedrosa, 22, died at a military hospital in Khost, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his Humvee accidentally rolled over during an overnight convoy in southern Wardak province.[51]

November 29, 2007 - Two Danish privates, Casper Alexander Cramer, 21, and Mark Visholm, 22, were killed in hostile actions in the Helmand Green Zone. The two privates were a part of the Danish light recce squadron which were securing the perimeter of a bridge construction site. During an hour long firefight the two privates were fatally wounded.[52][53]

2008

January 12, 2008 - Two Dutch soldiers of ISAF, Wesley Schol, 20, and Cpl. Aldert Poortema, 22, died at Deh Rawod, Afghanistan. They were assigned to the 44 Pantserinfanteriebataljon, Johannes Postkazerne, Havelte. Another was wounded, and could lose both legs. This was caused by friendly fire. [54][55]

February 13, 2008 - Italian Army warrant officer Giovanni Pezzullo was killed while distributing food and clothes to civilians near Rubdar, 60 km from Kabul; another soldier suffered minor wounds.[56]

February 27, 2008 - Two Polish soldiers, Corporal Szymon Słowik, 33, and Private Hubert Kowalewski, 26, were killed when the Humveee they were travelling in struck a landmine. The incident occurred in the Sharan district of Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province, while they were returning to their base after a meeting with villagers.[58]

March 13, 2008 - A Danish soldier, Jens Mathias Petersen, that suffered a cardiac arrest during a run in Kandahar died in Denmark after being flown back for further treatment.[59][60]

March 17, 2008 - Two Danish ISAF soldiers, Sonny Kappel Jakobsen, 45, and Christian Jørgen Grundt Damholt, 33, one Czech ISAF soldier, Šterba Milan, 35, an Afghan translator, and three Afghan civilians were killed by a Taliban suicide car bomb attack on a NATO military convoy in southern Afghanistan. Four other NATO soldiers were wounded in the attack that took place near the bazaar in the town of Gereshk in Helmand province.[61][62]

March 20, 2008 - A Romanian soldier, Ionut Cosmin Sandu, 29, was killed and another injured in Zabul province when their Humvee vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device.[63]

April 30, 2008 - A Czech soldier, Radim Vaculik, 29, died in Logar province after a roadside bomb exploded. Four other soldiers in the Humvee military vehicle were wounded, one of them seriously.

May 22, 2008 - A Lithuanian soldier, Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius, died from a gunshot wound in Ghor province. Civil unrest after reports that American soldiers had used the Koran as a target during training 11 days earlier turned into riots on May 22. A Lithuanian contingent repelling the attacks on the camp killed two and injured 7 rioters. Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius was only Lithuania's second casualty in an international peace-keeping mission. Lieutenant Normundas Valteris died 12 years ago in Bosnia.

May 23, 2008 - An Estonian soldier, Sgt. Maj. Ivar Brok, 30, died of injuries sustained in an accident at the Camp Bastion base.

June 10, 2008 - A Hungarian soldier was killed in Afghanistan while trying to disarm an IED. In the same incident, another Hungarian soldier was seriously injured. Both soldiers were part of a PRT stationed in Baghlan Province, northern Afghanistan. Local authorities called for assistance from the Hungarian PRT, as earlier that day another IED was detonated on a dirt road causing a number of civilian casualties. The arriving specialist team was requested to conduct a sweep for additional explosive devices, during which they located an IED hidden in the thin bushes next to the road. An attempt was made to remotely disarm the explosive device with the US Army's Andros bomb disposal robot, however, due to the size and weight of the device, this was unsuccessful. Sergeant 1st Class Gyula Kovács, 30, then volunteered to disarm the device and walked up to the bushes where it was hidden. While attempting to attach a hook to the device, in order to pull it out of the bushes, a large explosion took place, in which Kovács was instantly killed. As the investigation revealed, the explosive device was equipped with two triggers, one that was visible and disarmed by Sgt. Kovács and an additional one, which was capable of receiving radio signals and was hidden underneath the device in the ground and was used to remotely detonate the IED. Sgt. Kovács had been with the Hungarian Armed Forces for seven years and was a qualified professional on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.[67]

June 12, 2008 - A Romanian soldier, Marius Claudius Covrig, was killed by a grenade on the Qalat-Kabul highway.

June 21, 2008 - A Polish platoon commander, Ppor. Robert Marczewski, 28, died when a bomb hit his patrol shortly after midnight in the Dila district of Paktika province. [68][69]

July 12, 2008 - A Hungarian soldier, Cpt. Krisztián Nemes, 32, a member of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was killed and an Afghan policeman was seriously injured near the city of Kunduz in an IED explosion. Explosives expert Cpt. Nemes was approaching a reported IED, accompanied by an Afghan policeman, when a second IED hidden along the path exploded. Cpt. Nemes was sent to Afghanistan to replace Sgt. 1st Class Gyula Kovács, who was also killed in an IED detonation on June 10, 2008.[70]

July 25, 2008 - A Danish soldier, Lance Corporal Jesper Gilbert Pedersen was killed in the Helmand province, when his MBT, hit an improvised explosive device/or mine. It was his third and final mission. [71]

August 11, 2008 - A Latvian ISAF soldier, Edgars Ozolins, 23, was killed and three others injured when an IED was detonated while the soldiers were on routine patrol in Maimana in the northern part of Afghanistan. [72][73][74]

August 18, 2008 - Ten French troops were killed and a further 21 wounded after a three-hour gun battle 30 miles east of the capital Kabul in the Surobi district - the heaviest loss of troops France has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in 2001.[75][76]

August 31, 2008 - A Romanian soldier, Dragos Traian Alexandrescu, 32, was killed and four others wounded when their armoured personnel carrier hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while on patrol on the Qalat-Kabul highway about 20 km from Qalat. [79]

September 21, 2008 - An Italian soldier, caporal maggiore Alessandro Caroppo, 23, of San Pietro Vernotico, Brindisi died of the injuries from an accident in Afghanistan.[81]

November 9, 2008 - Two Spanish soldiers, Juan Andrés Suárez García (41) of Mieres, Asturias and Rubén Alonso Ríos (30) of Vigo, Galicia as a result of a suicide attack against a convoy of Afghan National Army who was being escorted by Spanish soldiers on mission of education and training in the south of the Herat province. Another one was badly injured and several slightly [82]

November 22, 2008 - A French soldier died in a land mine explosion near Kabul.

November 24, 2008 - Two Spanish soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Shindand in Herat province.

December 19, 2008 - One Dutch soldier, Sergeant Mark Weijdt, was killed by an improvised explosive device. This is the 18th casualty on the Dutch side since 2006 and the 6th of 2008. A second soldier suffered light injuries.[83]

December 4, 2008 - Two Danish soldiers were killed by an IEDHelmand province.

December 19, 2008 - Three Danish army servicemen were killed and one injured as their APC hit an IED or mine in southern Helmand province. The killed personnel were aged between 21 and 23, and came out of Gardehusarregimentet in Slagelse. The casualties came shortly after two other soldiers were deceased in Denmark. With twelve soldiers killed, 2008 is marked as the most bloody year for Danish combat personnel since 1940.[84]

2009

January 15, 2009 - An Italian soldier, Warrant Officer Arnaldo Forcucci, 42, died of an illness at Camp Arena in Herat province.

February 10, 2009 - A Polish soldier, Andrzej Rozmiarek, was killed in a vehicle accident in Ghazni.

February 11, 2009 - A French paratrooper, Capt. Patrice Sonzogni, 46, of the 35th RAP (régiment d’artillerie parachutiste) de Tarbes was killed in an ambush south of Kabul.[85][86]

February 26, 2009 - A Romanian soldier, SGM Chira Claudiu, was killed when his armored personnel carrier hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while on patrol on the Qalat-Kabul highway.[87]

March 14, 2009 - A French soldier, Nicolas Belda, 23, was killed when his armoured vehicle was hit by rocket fire in a clash with insurgents. French troops were carrying out a large military operation to attempt to take over a valley in the Kapisa region, 60 km northeast of the capital Kabul.[42][43][44]

March 31, 2009 - A Romanian soldier, name and age as yet unreleased, was killed and another injured when a mine detonated at a bridge on the Zabul-Kabul highway outside Zabul provincial capital Qalat in south Afghanistan.[88]

April 3, 2009 - A Romanian soldier, Petre Tiberius, 33, was killed as a result of a firefight while operating as part of a joint American-Romanian special forces team some 80 km south-west of Kabul.[89]

April 6, 2009 - A Dutch soldier, Azdin Chadli, 20, was killed and another five were wounded in a rocket attack on their base in Uruzgan province.[90][91]

April 7, 2009 - A Romanian soldier, Iuliu-Vasile Unguras, 32, was killed and another four wounded by a roadside bomb while patrolling in a convoy of four Humvee vehicles on the Kabul-Kandahar road, 20 km north-east of Kalat.[92][93]

June 15, 2009 - Estonian soldier Allain Tikko died on June 15, 2009, while three other soldiers were wounded in a RPG attack in Helmand, Afghanistan. [96]

June 17, 2009 - Three Danish soldiers, Andreas Søgaard Brohus, 26, Martin Abildgaard, 23, and Mads Lerche Rasmussen, 21, were killed by an IED on Highway One in southern Helmand province. The soldiers came out of Garderhussarregimentet, Slagelse.[45][46]

September 17, 2009 - Six Italian soldiers were killed in Kabul when a suicide car bomb hit their 2 Lince. Four other soldiers suffered severe wounds.[47]

September 19, 2009 - A Danish Army specialist, Steffen Bloch Larsen, 23, was killed in a firefight in Helmand province. He belonged to Den Kongelige Livgarde.[48]

October 23, 2009 - A Danish Army sergeant, Michael Ebert, 23, was shot and killed in the Gereshk Valley. He belonged to Den Kongelige Livgarde[49]

November 18, 2009 - A Danish Army scout, Rune Westy Zacharias Nielsen, 22, died from wounds he sustained in a engagement with Taliban forces on October 31, in Helmand province. He belonged to Light Recon Squadron of Garderhussarregimentet, based on Bornholm.[50]

November 25, 2009 - A Danish Army scout, Kenneth Patrick Nielsen, 23, from the Danish Army Light Recon Squadron of Garderhussarregimentet, based on Bornholm, was killed by an IED in Helmand province.[51]

2010

February 7, 2010 - Two Swedish officers Captain Johan Palmlöv, 28 and lieutenant Gunnar Andersson, 31, killed by small caliber fire west of Mazar-i-Sharif. Another soldier was shot in the foot during the gunfight.

Deaths of soldiers from other countries

2003

January 29, 2003 - A South Korean officer, Kim Hyo-sung, 33, was shot dead by a fellow officer for not following an order to speak quietly on the telephone.[97]